Brittish Embassy and Repatriation...

[Scottish_Rob]

Mods.. Can you please find the right place to put this (haha) and I don't mean in the bin !!! Maybe somewhere prominant where newbiew can read, bnefore going to China...

Hi guys.  This concerns Brittish Members

I thought I would write this down so that anyone thinking of living in China, and having the 'MISFORTUNE' that I myself had in 2010, could maybe benefit from my experience...

I stupidly went to China with NOT enough money, (cutting a long, LONG story very short), I ended up at the Brittish Embassy in Beijing,  in the hope of being REPATRIATED back to the United Kingdom.

They did not Repatriate me, their reasons for this were:
a) They DO NOT pay for any flights..
b) They DO NOT pay for accomodation..
c) They do not get you any work...

When I told them my sorry story (OWN FAULT it must be added), the only help they offered was:
a) To let you use the telephone to call the uk
or
b) To make the calls to YOUR family, for them to help you get the air ticket
or
c) To give you a cup of coffee
and
d) They told me that, the only way that the UK Embassy REPATRIATES any one, is IF they are DEAD

The reason I am posting this is, so NO ONE, ever again, has to go throough what I went through on my last trip.  It was horrendous...

Can any other members from the other continants suppy the same type of information, concerning their Countries Embassy...

[Bee964]

Rob,

PayPal has an option for their members to do just this, cry for help. You can post a note that will be sent to all members that you specify asking for financial help. Then the funds are put into your bank account. I do not know the time involved for this either. It could be hours or it could be weeks.

Dave C

[JamesMarvin]

HI all,

I don't know if its true or not, but I was told when I moved to Germany in 1987 that the US would "buy back" my passport for one ticket cheapest to the US. Then the only way to ever get a new passport was to repay the FedGov for the ticket.

Jim in icy Bavaria!!!

[Willy The Londoner]

From your experience Robbie it should not just be for the Newbies.

Willy

[Paul Todd]

Yes Jim it used to be the same in the UK. They would get you home and then take your passport. Like you say, the only way to get it back was to repay the price of the ticket. They stopped this years ago and now it's up to you to sort it out.................Best thing is not to get yourself into this position in the first place. Not to bad for us Brits in Europe where you can still hitch a ride home but from China that's not so easy 

[Chad]

Rob not to get personal or anything but how much money did you have and how long were you in China for. I will be there for 3.5 weeks and do not want to run out of money.

[Scottish_Rob]

I took with me £750.00  uk pounds, with a further £460.00put into my account from 'normal' benefits.  I was there for a total of 7 weeks.

I will send you a PM,  with a run down of what it was spent on...

[Mag00]

 scottish, i think it would be helpful if you let the rest of us know what you spent your money on. We can always use this type of info,as it is at time abit difficult to ferret out current costs. Thank you in advance.

[Willy The Londoner]

The cost of living in China is much lower than in the west. But recent UN reports state that in about 20 years the average Chinese person will have the same standard of living which the western world has today.  From then on it will diminish.

Coming here for a trip is different that living here. 

Until our own home is ready we are renting and that costs  1200 rmb a month for two bedroom apartment plus electricity and water which adds on average 300 rmb a month.  our food bill adds up to 1500 a month, but we eat basically Chinese, and very little Western Food.  But get to larger citys and the costs can double, treble and even more in Beijing.

This gives a total of about 300 gb pounds or 450 us dollars   so seven weeks at our rates will come to about 550 pounds (825 US)   But living here for a shorter time will greatly increase you cost. 

So In essence you need a minimum of 2000 pounds (3000 US dollars) to pay for hotels, food etc. 

Even if you have been talking to a lady for months it is very unlikely that you will be invited to stay at her home during your visit.  But even if she did offer such an invite then be prepared as you may find when you actually get here that you may find that you are not really suited.

We know how much Rob brought here and the least said the better but in his case the money would have last 7 weeks if other circumstances had not arisen.


Willy

[mustfocus]

I think you could get away with US$2000 in Beijing for a vacation of 3.5 weeks.  When I was there, I managed it.  But then again, I'm not a big souvenir shopper.  Granted I didn't stay at a 5 star hotel (business hotel... I'm not at the hotel to stay there all day), but it was quite enjoyable.  I don't think you could get away with that in a European or North American city...

[Kiwi303]

I'm on track for my trip to ChongQing in September, a bit different however as I will be at a school/universoty working on a years english TESOL contract with accommodation provided and a RMB income.

On the other hand, I'm a born cynic/pessimist and am planning and am on track savings wise to have enough saved after my travel costs to have with me 1500 NZD/7500 RMB/700 GBP to deposit to a Chinese bank for living costs to keep me for a couple of weeks looking for alternative work and living costs until first paycheque, several standby email contacts with other schools, and enough to cover airfare home still in my NZ bank account if I run out of money and time before finding alternative work.

Just in case the place I am interested in and who are interested in me don't live up to their promises, I want to be able to just pull out my Credit card and line up at the airline counter for a cash flight home if it all lands in the crapper, totally separate from in-china spending money.

The extra savings for fallback plans is why I am going for the Sept '11 hiring season not the March '11 hirings.

[RobertBfrom aust]

Well thought out Kiwi , with that plan in place you can only win , what city are you heading for , regards Sujuan and Robert .

[Kiwi303]

Chongqing

Which is a city about as big as Queensland well, they CALL it a city, it's more a federal municipality, with a number of cities within the "Chongqing city" limits.

The Uni I am looking at as a prospective employer has several campuses in the Shapingba, Yuzhong, and Jiulongpo districts. The woman I am communicating with on Chnlove and via email as well as EMF, is in Dadukau district, only half an hour or less from any of the three main campuses... I intend to make pretty clear in the contract and negotiations that I end up on one of the three main campuses and not out in the sticks several hours away on a satellite campus so as to be nice and handy to her.

[RobertBfrom aust]

Love that city ,having spent a few weeks there and have to call in there to see my agents again in April , love the central mall where all day any day of the week you can go blind with the beauty passing by , if you have not caught up with it yet there is also -- www.chongqingexpats.com , may have a .cn on the end , I haven't been to it in months also I think there is also 1 of our forum members teaching out of the Chongqing area , regards Sujuan and Robert .

[Philip]

Yes, Chongqing has more than 30 million people in the urban areas in and around the city. It is massive. My present school has a branch there, but I have been advised not to transfer there if I want to move to China. I visited in 2002, and it is an interesting mess of a city. Large new concrete centre, and traditional old town (you take a cable car there) which has very modest housing and markets. There is also a nice zoo, with pandas, giant and small cute brown ones.